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Show ; ' All-Out Safety Drive Urged : Economic Loss From Highway Crashes I Mounting Fast; Hit $14 Billion in 1968 The overall toll on the nation's resources from highway crashes is far greater than the often-published death and injury tolls, tragic though they are. In the last decade, as human casualties have increased about 50 per cent, economic losses resulting from traffic crashes have mounted at twice that rate, the Insurance Information ; Institute pointed out today. standards and in pursuing other avenues of hope for improvement. improve-ment. "But they can't do it all," he continued. "The driver himself him-self must resolve to do his part of the job by driving defensively defensive-ly and steering clear of trouble." Noting that wintertime driving, driv-ing, with early twilights and icy roads, is especially hazardous, hazar-dous, Mr. Bateman suggested that this is an especially important im-portant time of year to think and practice safety. The Institute executive added that automobile insurance insur-ance is another safeguard that every motorist should review from time to time to make certain cer-tain that it takes care of current needs. The Institute said that from J 1958 through 1968: J Highway fatalities in- ' creased 49.5 per cent, from 36,981 to 55,200. . , , . Motor vehicle injuries jumped 55.8 per cent, from ;j 2,825,000 to 4,400,000. I' Economic losses growing ' out of .highway . accidents . spi- raled 103.6 per cent, from $7 '' billion in 1958 to an estimated $14.25 billion in 1968 an average av-erage of $71 for every man, woman and child in the nation. Urging that motorists review their own driving habits in an all-out effort to reverse the upward up-ward trends, J. Carroll Bateman, Bate-man, president of the Institute, declared: "A few years ago, we were decrying de-crying the slaughter on our highways as shameful but ac tually doing little about Today To-day it has reached such critical proportions that safety leaders are reexamining their traditional tradi-tional viewpoints about the-causes the-causes of accidents; long-apathetic business leaders are joining join-ing actively in the search for solutions; the federal government govern-ment has moved into a position of leadership in establishing new highway and auto safety |